


Long Gone

by Eve6262



Category: Bug Fables (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, lab main setting, slight body horror, the ship isn't the focus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28659240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eve6262/pseuds/Eve6262
Summary: The roaches have left quite the legacy. So, too, has Hoaxe.(or, an experiment left to fester comes alive. this one isn't leif.)
Relationships: Kabbu/Professor Neolith (Bug Fables)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	1. Slight Chill

Being a parasitic amalgamation of a moth’s memories and a cordyceps causes many problems. A loss of the sense of self, medical marvels and problems that no one knows how to solve, an eternal hunger that never turns into starvation but never gets satiated.

It’s not all bad, though.

“Aaahh, nice and cool…”

The three of them are sitting in a patch of shade. The desert sun beats down with the intensity of Crisbee’s oven. Vi is surgically attached to Leif’s side, occasionally sighing. Kabbu looks on from beside them.

“Kabbu?”

“Hm?”

“You look like you want to say something.”

“Oh, it’s nothing…”

Leif tilts his head for a moment. He goes through the logical conclusions- they’re quite close to the Wasp Kingdom, perhaps he’s thinking about his fallen comrades. A small bout of mourning.

Then he feels the cordyceps instinctually curl up against the places where Vi’s warmth touches his crystal cold skin, and he very quickly realizes the problem.

“There is space on our other side, you know.”

“Oh- I wouldn’t want to bother-”

“Not a problem.”

“Ah. Still, are you sure-”

“Kabbu.”

“If you insist.”

Kabbu moves from his spot in the shade to cuddle up to Leif’s left, still quite shy of doing anything but sitting shoulder to shoulder. Vi, by contrast, immediately draped herself over his torso when they found this spot.

The cordyceps again moves a few tendrils to Kabbu’s side, unintentionally cooling that part of his body further. For a long while, there is content silence. Leif starts quietly petting Chompy, who makes little happy noises on his lap, Vi has very nearly fallen asleep, and Kabbu grows a little softer at the mere sight of his compatriots.

“My apologies for being so long.”

Leif simply starts patting Vi’s head until she bats him away and stands up, where Kabbu practically jolts to attention.

“Maki! It’s not a problem. You said something about important business?”

“Mmmph, did you have to tell us all the way out here? I’m still sleepy…”

“These are confidential matters. I’d rather no one in the Ant Kingdom hears of it.”

“Confidential?”

“The Wasp Kingdom would rather not the general public know about it, much less the other Kingdoms. We, of course, respect their wishes.”

“Keeping secrets again, huh? That’s kinda what led to the whole dictator thing…”

“Hence why Queen Vanessa has trusted us with this information.”

“My, this sounds like quite the responsibility.”

“Truthfully, I am unsure if we can do anything. I suspect we’ll need help from the Bee Kingdom, perhaps even the roaches.”

She’s about to continue, but suddenly there’s a very tired and out of breath Neo at her side.

“Maki...do you have...to go that...fast?”

“I didn’t want to keep them waiting.”

“Yeah, but...I think...I’m gonna pass out…”

“Ah, Neo! Please, don’t- here, do you need anything?”

“A bit of rest will help.”

“You should grab Leif. He’s really cold.”

“Oh, I’ll be fine...though that does sound quite nice…”

“We should get moving. Queen Vanessa has entrusted myself and Her Majesty with the information, but I am unsure I can explain it properly.”

“Very well.”

Neo huffs, still tired.

“More walking..?”

Leif tilts his head, thinking of a solution once more. As Kabbu attempts to give his “dear friend” a pep talk, an idea pops into his head. He doesn’t like walking either- so he doesn’t, always.

“Here. We will carry you.”

“Huh? Leif, no offense, but you have like zero muscles.”

“Not with our arms.”

He conjures a platform of ice, the kind he usually floats about on. It hovers close to the ground, waiting for its occupant. Vi makes a noise behind him while Neo climbs on, clearly happy to not need to walk.

“Wait, you could do that the whole time? That could’ve saved us when we first were infiltrating the Wasp Kingdom.”

“We couldn’t. We were still learning how to control our powers properly.”

“Ah. Fair enough.”

With a bit of grumbling from Vi (“You could carry me!” “No.”), they set off to the Wasp Kingdom. Neo doesn’t say much- evidently he wants to chat Kabbu’s ear off, but his lungs won’t let him- and Maki has always been stoic.

At the front entrance, Neo gets off the ice block, fine to keep walking again. The guards at the front are somewhat weary, but let the group through when Maki shows them a letter from their Queen herself.

Finally, they find her in her throne room, talking to a wasp they’ve never seen before. He’s got a messenger bag with papers practically falling out of it and a pair of spectacles.

“You’ve arrived. I must thank you again for everything you’ve done for this country.”

“It is our duty, Your Highness.”

“I apologize to call upon you once more, but there is an issue with something that is out of any of our expertise. Please, come with me.”

They go into a room past the throne room, down a spiral staircase, and end up in a basement that feels oddly familiar.

“This place reminds me of the Snakemouth lab.”

“We were about to say the same thing.”

“I don’t know anything about that, but if it was built by roaches you would be correct. Long ago, before they disappeared, the roaches’ closest ally was this very Kingdom. We shared with them song and dance and culture and our blades, and in exchange they shared with us their technology and information.”

“That makes sense...This place is closest to the desert.”

“This place is one of those labs, made by ancient wasps, who modeled it after roach laboratories. The problem is this machine right here.”

She walks over to a tube of sorts. It’s got a mechanical base and top, with wires running everywhere to and from it. Inside is a crystal...creature?

“This was one of their experiments. It was abandoned the same time this place was- namely, when Hoaxe took over. At the time, however, many of the records had been lost, so we were simply observing it and keeping it in stasis.”

“Now, however, since it was abandoned for so long, the stasis is broken. It’s currently asleep, but it won’t be soon.”

Leif regards it with curiosity and a sort of kinship. In some ways the cordyceps wishes to reach out and grab it and treat it like another little pet- like Chompy or the little bedbug. It’s a bit bigger than the baby Mother Chomper, but it’s just as cute, and still manageably small. It’s a little smaller than that child always running around in front of their house in the Ant Kingdom.

Belatedly, he realizes the others are talking.

“...ice powers! Leif has those, and he’s part crystal, kinda.”

“You are?”

“Yes. Though the actual situation is a bit more complicated than that, we are part crystal, in a sense.”

He’d nearly forgotten, what with the cordyceps situation, that the cordyceps itself was a roach-driven crystal experiment. Funny how these things happen.

“...I thought you were just a blue moth.”

“We used to be red, actually.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes. We thought it unimportant to mention.”

They’re interrupted by a beeping from the tube. Alerts pop up on the console, but Leif pays attention to none of them. Instead, he watches as the crystal beast slowly starts to move, leg by leg. It looks like a spider, he realizes, but with none of the ugliness. Cute, apparently.

A cute thing is a cute thing. No need to look into it further.

As Queen Vanessa is typing away on the console, though, it shatters the glass with all the ease of moving a wing. It hisses, looking at Vi and Kabbu, backing up, ready to fight-

And then it spots Leif.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beginning ended up a little dialogue heavy 'cause I needed exposition. later chapter(s) probably won't be.


	2. Who?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spider is excited to show its new friend its pretty thing. Said friend has a bit of trauma left, though.

It chimes- and it sounds heavenly, like fairy bells on the wind- and calms.

Leif sees himself, reflecting in those eyes. Perhaps it’s the confusion, being so lost in a place so familiar, the fear wrapping around him like spider silk. Or maybe it’s the ever-so-slightly reflective surface of the crystal.

He reaches out a hand nonetheless. There are people speaking in the background- someone yelling?- but he’s stopped paying attention.

“Hrej? Ovriek v’rei hrej?”

_ Kin? You are kin? _

Again it chimes. A memory pops up unbidden- Zommoth, looking down at the poor child kindly, as a brother to her. She has no mouth but he distinctly sees her smile.

Leif has no siblings. The cordyceps has a sibling- a sister. These two are incompatible.

The little crystal spider chimes again, and Leif isn’t sure what to think anymore.

It nudges his hand, like it knows he’s ignoring it. Chompy has always been good at that- seen through his hollow gazes, known when he was simply going through the motions and when he was actually doting on her. Like Chompy, not like Zommoth.

Chompy did not hiss at his friends. Zommoth hissed at his friends- and what did this one do? Like Zommoth, not like Chompy.

The two are incompatible. Leif and “I” are incompatible. They are one and the same. This problem has no solution.

Without hesitation, it bites down on his arm. Not roughly, like wild spiders, but softly, like Chompy asking for pets. And then it tries to drag, like it wants to show him something.

He can’t refuse his kin. But is it kin with the cordyceps or Leif?

Again, vaguely, he can hear people talking. He can also hear the constant chimes of the crystal spider, and he wonders where they are going. And he hears the patter of Chompy’s footsteps- and he wonders, will she be safe? Will she be alright?

She’s a smart little thing. She’ll go back to Kabbu and Vi if it’s too dangerous, won’t she? The old Mother Chomp surrounded herself in thorns, hid in a cave far away so she wouldn’t die. Surely Chompy will have the same instincts.

The crystal spider comes across a door and easily hops up to a control panel. Its body is dimly lit, like a piece of glass over a light bulb. It knows how to operate this place, despite just waking.

Just like him. When did he learn Roach, anyway?

No. Don’t think of that. He can’t. The cordyceps has known it since birth, and Leif has memories of learning the language. The same dialect, too. These facts are incompatible- he must be using one of their repositories, but which one?

Oh, being a parasitic lifeform has its positives. Always nice and cool, even in the desert. But there are so many downsides he can’t even look too far up lest he snap his own neck with the pressure.

Finally, the crystal spider stops, snapping him out of his stupor. He feels Chompy cuddle up to his leg- too warm here? She stays away from him in cold places, but according to Vi the Snakemouth lab was cold.

Gently, his hand is let go of. The slight pressure was comforting, he realizes now. He misses it the moment it is gone. Nonetheless, he watches as the spider climbs something.

A crystal web. Of course.

He wants to cry. He wants to break down and tear the place to shreds. He wants to hug that spider. He wants to collapse in someone’s arms. His wife is dead- that’s not his wife he’s a lie what. is. he?

It chimes again, but Leif and the cordyceps are gone and replaced with a dead-eyed zombified moth with no brain nor inclination to act. If he were to speak it would be in slurred Roach; if he were to move he would collapse with the effort.

Chompy knows. The spider has realized.

It tries to apologize, but all it knows is chimes. Chompy tries to interpret, but all it knows is gentle hand bites and bumping against his leg. The latter gets him to sit, but then his hands go to his head and the two creatures panic.

Then the door opens, and vaguely he can hear the panicked shouting of Kabbu. (which is a testament to his mental state, because that man is loud.) He feels a hand on his arm, and it feels like fire, and he immediately jerks away at the thought.  _ Fire. Fire, wasn’t there something with fire? _

The place in flames. The roaches left behind. Him, him and- and-

And Kabbu and Vi. That’s right. The Everlasting King and his madness and his death.

The crystal spider chimes from its place on his lap. His lap. When did he end up on the floor? He reaches down and pets the thing, as he would any other cute thing. It chimes and nuzzles his hand.

Cute thing.

Chompy, satisfied with her owner’s mental state, gives the crystal spider a chomp on the leg. It cries out- and the sound is like angels having their wings ripped off- and again becomes agitated.

“Tr’vrek tajh vrie! Viatiev kr’aivret traj kret obivrat.”

_ Both of you calm down! The fault lies with no one- a bit awkward. It’s not one’s fault. _

Chompy does not like hearing her owner speak Roach, because she knows it is usually a sign of a mental breakdown. The crystal spider has only heard him speak Roach, so it enjoys this. The two are at odds.

Just like his mind. The same. Incompatible. What?

“My apologies for whatever I may have caused, but we must work on separating the two immediately.”

The crystal spider, evidently, has a mild understanding of Bugnish. It chimes angrily at that. Chompy, apparently, also sees that this is not the solution, and hisses at the Queen. Leif rushes to stop them.

“Krei jhai, kuvrait. Ovioljret traj...Queen, veriait.”

_ Be nice, cordial. She is the Queen, after all. _

“The word for Queen…”

He doesn’t often speak out loud, save for explanatory purposes, but the phrase slips out as his mind slowly but surely returns to its usual half-Roach, half-Bugnish state. Vi takes that as a sign of recovery.

“Leif!”

She practically shouts it in his ear, startling him, but his eyes are back to normal and his brain is occupied with  _ now  _ and not  _ who _ . He looks around for a moment before realizing what happened.

“Ah. Our apologies. We…”

“No explanations yet. You okay?”

“Yes. We saw the web and memories…”

“That makes sense. We did find you in a spiderweb.”

“What about the spider, though? You kinda just followed it when it started leading you.”

“It reminded us of ourselves.”

“I wish I knew more,” Queen Vanessa interjects, “But for now, my priority is the creature.”

“The creature is calm.”

As if to support his claim, it chimes happily, finally leaving Leif’s lap so he can get up. Chompy, however, complains and jumps up at his legs a few times. No longer worried about the mental breakdown, she demands pets.

He picks her up and holds her like a small child while the others continue. Kabbu and Vi barely notice, but the others seem worried.

“Wait a minute. Please don’t tell me you think that thing is cute.”

“Think? It is cute.”

“Alright, pack it up, people. He’s found another one. He’s not letting go of it.”

“It is like us. And look at it. It means no harm.”

“You just had a mental breakdown over it.”

“Our weak mental fortitude is not the fault of the creature.”

“Weak? Leif, I can’t begin to talk about how much you’ve gone through! That’s not weakness, that’s simply natural.”

Vi growls and turns around, hands at her head. Much more common for her. “I can’t believe we’re keeping that.”

“Think of it this way. Easier battles.”

“I’m not objecting, I’m just annoyed that I was worried about you for nothing.”

“Vi!”

“Not your fault.”

Kabbu’s shoulders slump. Neo looks a little scared, Queen Vanessa looks apprehensive, and Maki looks almost...scared.

“By the way, Leif, it’s not...normal, for you to pick up that creature, is it?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“It could bite your hand off.”

“Chompy is a nice girl. She only bites people that we fight.”

“It is a baby Chomper.”

“Chompy.”

“If I may ask, you three… would you be willing to-”

“If you’re gonna say take care of the crystal thing, yes. Leif is going to take that thing from you regardless of whether you want us to or not, and good luck fighting him.”

“...Very well then. As far as the records go, it requires nothing to survive, as it is technically not alive.”

“See? Like us.”

And the little beast chimes, happy to have found a friend.


End file.
